Criminals prefer offending in their own neighbourhoods, a study carried out in North Yorkshire has found.

Authors of the Home Office report say their research shatters the myth that offenders are travelling miles - often from urban to rural areas - to commit crimes.

But North Yorkshire Police today questioned the report's findings and said travelling criminals were a reality in the county.

The Home Office research, carried out in the county and in Sheffield and reported today in a national newspaper, found that on average half of criminals travel less than two miles to carry out crimes.

It said criminals are more likely to be opportunists making the most of chances that arise in their everyday lives. This figure is said to have changed little in 30 years.

"It is often assumed that because travel has become much easier in the contemporary period then offenders must be taking advantage of this fact and are travelling further to commit their crimes," the report says.

"There is a widely-held view within police forces, especially rural ones, that a considerable amount of high volume crime is committed by travelling, often urban offenders, taking advantage of increased mobility."

But the study found no evidence that an increasing amount of rural crime is carried out by outsiders.

Even when offenders do move further afield, it is often to areas with strong connections to their home districts.

The behaviour of burglars is usually influenced by opportunities that arise during routine travel rather than detailed planning, the report found.

But North Yorkshire Police community safety officer PC John Bolton, working with Safer York Partnership, said if half the criminals were travelling less than two miles, as claimed by the report, the other half were travelling more than two miles.

"We know that there is a problem in North Yorkshire with travelling criminals because we arrest them," he said. "A substantial amount of crime is committed in the county by criminals from either outside the immediate area or from outside the force area."

PC Bolton said that it had been known for some time that the majority of crime was opportunist, rather than pre-planned.